Folding gate.



A. FRITZ.

FOLDING GATE,

APPLICATION 511.50 MAY 10. 1915,

Patented Dec. 25, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.' 21 in JZ AxeL Fri/Lz.

A. FRITZ.

FOLDING GATE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I0, 1915. 1,251,213. Patented Dec. 25,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

[TI/067L007? AxeZ/ Fri/b2.

by h/bs 002137.?

A. FRITZ.

FOLDING GATE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY10.19I5.

Patented Dec. 25, 1917-.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Inventor.

Axial 1773f}.

g/waizz'.

AXEL rnzrz, or nvnnnrr, nessacncsnrrs.

FoLn'INe GATE.

Specifi'cation'of Lettrs Patent.

Patented Dec.2 5, 1917.

Application fileii May 10, 1915. seriaina-zeesa To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AXEL FRITZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at Everett, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Folding Gates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in folding gates and has for its object to provide a strong, d-urable gate, which is practically self-supporting and at the same time presents a very neat and pleasing appearance.

Other objects of the invention comprise guide bars which may be collapsed when said gate is folded, said guide bars being so constructed and arranged that they will maintain the gate sections rigid when unfolded and the gateis closed. Means are also provided for maintaining the two sections of the guide bars in perfect alin'ement when said gate sections are closed. The construction of the movable pales is also believed to be novel while the arrangement and form of the links by which the pales of said gate sections are connected together and to the pivot pale of the gate are thought to be new.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts whereby the above objects and certain other objects hereinafter appearing may be attained, as set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a front elevation of a pair of folding gate sections shown extended, portions of said sections being broken away and other parts removed to save space in the drawings.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of one section of the gate shown folded.

Fig. 3 is a detail enlarged View of the pivot pale of one of the gate sections, portions 'of which have been broken away to save space in the drawings.

Fig. i is a transverse section through the gate taken on the line 4.-l of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a detail front view of the upper end of one of the pales of said gate illustrating the manner in which the links are attached thereto.

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 1 illustrating the locking means by whi'chthetwo gate sections are secured in their closed positions. 1

Fig. 7 is a detail view, partly in section, of the first joint in the upper guide bar. 7

1 Fig, 8 a detail view of portions of said guide bar illustrating the second joint thereends of the guide bars with the same shown in section to more clearly illustrate the means for maintaining said .guide bars in alinement with each other. i

Fig. 10 is a detail View of a portion of the lowermost guide bar illustrating a form of temporary support for the outermost section thereof.

Fig. 11 is a section taken substantially on the line 1111 of Fig.2 illustrating the device for securing the gate sections in their folded positions.

Fig. 12 is a detail view of a portion of a gate-section illustrating a plurality of pales of modified form, portions of said pales being broken away and removed to save space pales thereof are constructed to serve as advertising mediums. Flg. 16 1s a transverse sectlon taken 0 the line line 16 "16 of Fig. 15.

Fig. 17 is a transverse section taken on' the line 17'17 of Fig. 15.

Fig. 18 is a section taken on the line 1s 1s of Fig. 15.

Fig. 19 is a section taken on the line 1919 of Fig. 18.

Fig. 20 is a section similar to Fig. 18 illustrating the sections or pales of the gate folded.

F ig. 21 is a detail sectional view illustrating the connecting link for the upper end of the two adjacent pales.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.-

In the drawings, referring particularly to Fig. '9 illustrates portions of the abutting Figs. 1 toll inclusive, 22 and 23 represent portions'of two'gate sections, portions th'ereof being broken away to'save space in the drawings. Each of said gate sections pref erably embodies in its construction a supporting member or pivot pale 24 preferably vertically disposed and provided at its lower end with a pivot 25 mounted or formed upon a bracket 26, which is in turn secured to the pivot pale 24. The upper end of the pivot pale 24 is provided with a hinge 27 formed in two parts 28 and 29, the part 28 being attached in any suitable manner to the wall or post upon which the gate is mounted, while the other part 29 is secured to the pivot pale 24. A block 30 is arranged to slide in the part 28 and adapted to be secured in a predetermined position on said part by a screw 31. A pivot pin 32- for said hinge is mountthe pivot pale 24 and adapted to be moved laterally with respect to said pivot pale to fold and unfold said gate. Means are also provided for connecting said pales together and to said pivot pale. Said means preferably consist of two sets of links 34, 34 interposed between each pair of adjacent pales.

Each of said sets of links is preferably constructed of two strips of metal 35 and 36 which cross each other substantially midway of their lengths and at each crossing point they are riveted together as at 37. The strip of metal from which said links are constructed is preferably flat with the fiat faces of the crossed strips toward each other at their crossing points. The extremities 38 however of said links are twisted at right angles to the pivoted sections thereof. U-shaped straps 39 are attached to said extremities and form slots within which are arranged pins 40 mounted upon the pales 33.

gate,

The pales 33 are preferably formed of two parallel coextensive members 41, 41 preferably formed from a single strip of metal which is bent double with the connecting portion 42 thereof arranged at the upper ends of said pales. The side members 41 of said pale are separated the required distance by the pins 40, 40 by means of which the links 34 are connected therewith.

A pair of guide bars 43 and 44 are secured adjacent the upper and lower ends respectively of the pivot pales 24 and extend laterally relatively to said pivot pale, said guide bars also extending between the side members 41. of said pales in order to properly aline the pales of said gate. Rollers 45, 45 are rotatably mounted between the sides 41 of each of said pales at the upper and lower ends and engage the upper sides of the guide bars 43 and 44, thus supporting said guide bars during their lateral movements. Along the upper edges of the guide bars 43 are ribs 46 arranged to engage grooves 47 formed in the rollers 45, thus properly guiding said pales during their lateral movements.

Each of the guide bars embodies in its construction a relatively stationary portion 48. The stationary portions 48 of said guide bars are secured to the pivot pale 24 by angle brackets 49, 49, one arm of the arms of said brackets being arranged to fit into the stationary portion 43 which is preferably of U-shaped cross section, while the other arm of each of said brackets is adapted to fit into the pivot pale 24 which is also U-shaped in cross section, thus providing a rigid and substantial support for said guide bars. The angle bracket for the guide bar 44 is preferably formed in one piece with the bracket 26 upon which the pivot 25 for said gate is mounted.

The stationary portion of said guide bar is of a length suificient to protrude beyond the outermost pale of the series constituting said gate, when said gate is folded, which will be seen by referring to Fig. 2, and in order to lengthen said bars to correspond with the length of the gate when the same is unfolded one or more pivoted sections are added thereto. In the present form of gate two sections 50 and 51 have been added to each guide bar, said sections being pivotally connected together in order to permit the portions of said guide bar, which protrude beyond the end of the stationary member, to be collapsed and folded with the gate and thus occupy a very small amount ofspace when the gate is not in use.

It is essential and one of the features of i this invention that said guide bars be of such a construction that they will support the pales of said gate without requiring any supports or casters secured to the lower ends of said pales. lVith the lowermost guide bar this result is accomplished by providing a pivot 52 the axis of which is arranged transversely of the stationary portion 48 of said guide bar 44. The pivot 52 permits the second section 50 of the guide bar to be swung upwardly against the outermost pale 53 of the gate section, see Fig. 2. With some gates the second section would be sufficient, as hereinbefore stated, that is to say, the upper end thereof would not project above the upper ends of the pales 33.

In the present gate however were the re maining portion of said guide bar to be made in one piece it would project considerably above the upper ends of the pales and be very unsightly and unh'andy in certain cases. Therefore the third section 51 has been pro vided which is connected to the outer end of the sections preferably by a link 54: connected by pivots 55, 55. This permits the third section to be bent downwardly with respect to the member 50 and to rest against said section 50.

The adjacent ends of the sections 18 and 50 are adapted to abut at 50 when in the positions shown in -Fig. 1 and thus limit a further downward movement of said member 50 and'thereby support said member 50. The adjacent ends of the second and third sections 50 and 51 are also adapted to abut at 51, but at points above the axes of the pivots and thus prevent further pivotal movements in that direction between said members when the guide bar is in the position illustrated in Fig. 1. The outer end of the guide bar, or at least, the section 51 thereof may be supported in a single gate upon the opposite post from that upon which the gate is pivoted, but where the gate is in two sections, as illustrated in the drawings, this will not be permitted, therefore the outer ends of the guide bars for the two gate sections are adapted to abut and to be secured together in such a way that one Will be supported by the other.

For this purpose a latch 56 is pivoted at 57 adjacent the end of one of said outermost sections within the recess formed therein. The free end of said latch is somewhat reduced and tapered at 58 and projects into the recess formed in the end of the abutting guide bar and rests upon a ledge 59 whereby said free end may be supported therein. To properly position said latch upon said led e the abutting ends of said guide bars must first be elevated until the free end of said latch may be swung into said recess above said ledge, after which said guide bars may be lowered as far as said latch will permit, the lowermost position thereof being with said guide bars in perfect alinement with each other.

In order to permit the upward movements of said guide bars the end of the bar bearing the pivot 57 is rounded off at 60 upon an arc swung from the axis of the pivot 57. When the latch 56 is not in use and the guide bars are folded as in Fig. '2, said latch may be swung 0216i; into the recess of said guide bar, as shown in dotted lines Fig. The latches for both the upper and lower guide bars are con tructed in substantially the same manner. The upper guide bar a3 is constructed somewhat differently from the lower guide bar in order that it may be self supporting and yet be folded when the gate is not in use. 7

To accomplish this result the second section 50 is rotatably mounted upon the stationary portion 43 to rotate about an axis.

extending longitudinally of the stationary portion as of said guide bar; Said second section is also arranged to swing about an axis extending transversely of said station ary portion. For this purpose a stud 61 has ieen provided which has a cylindrical shank 62 extending into the recess 63 in the outer end of the stationary portion 48.

An annular groove 6% is formed in said cylindrical shank and a pin 65 extends across said guide bar beneath said cylindrical portion and fits into said annular groove. The pin 55 permits the stud 61 to be rotated and retains the cylindrical portion thereof within the recess 63. The head of the stud 61 is adapted to project into a slot 69 between the side flanges of the second section 50 of said guide bar and is pivoted to said flanges by a pin 66. The upper corners of the flanges of said member 50 are rounded off at 6'7 permitting said member 50 to be swung upwardly about the axis of the pivot 66. The lower corners 68 of said side flanges are left square to engage corresponding corners 68 at the outer end of the stationary member 48, thus limiting the downward movement of the member 50 and retaining said member and the member 18 in perfect alinement. The third section 51 of the upper guide bar is pivotally secured to the member 50 in the same manner as is the section 51 of the lower guide bar and is adapted to be folded in the same manner.

\Vhen the gate sections are unfolded and the outermost pales 53 thereof contact with each other a U-shaped bolt 70 is arranged to embrace both of said outermost pales and prevent them from separating. Lugs 71, 71 are provided upon blocks '72 arranged between the side members of said pales for the purpose of positioning said U-shaped bolt on said outermost pales, that is, to prevent it from slipping up and down thereon. To the extremities of the lugs of said U bolt are secured swivel eyes 73 which may be turned inwardly when the bolt is inserted in place, to prevent the withdrawal thereof. The shackle 7 1 of a padlock 7 5 may then be inserted through said eyes to lock L116 same in said positions.

To retain the pales of the gate and also the guide bars thereof in their folded positions, as indicated in Fig. 2, a bar 76 is pivotally secured by staple 77 to the pivot pale 2% of said gate, said bar being arranged to extend transversely of the series of pales to a point beyond the outermost pale there of. At the outer end of said bar is a laterally projecting member 78, see Fig. 11, which projects entirely across both membore 51, 51 of the upper and lower guide bars, which are at this time folded against the outermost pale of said gate. A latch 79 is pivotally attached to the outer end of said laterally projecting member by a screw 80. A stop 81 is arranged beneath said latch to prevent the downward movement thereof, but permitting the latch to be swung upwardly at right angles to the bar 50.

If the gates are of unusual length it is sometimes desirable to provide a support for the lowermost guide bar and such a support is shown in Figs. 1 and 11 and consists of a pivoted member 82 secured by a pin 83 to one of the sections of said guide bar, in the present instance the section 51. A split washer 84 is mounted upon said stud between said pivoted member and the side of the guide bar 51 to provide friction sulficient to maintain said pivoted member in the desired position, that is to say, whether depending from the pin 83, as shown in Fig. 10, or swung upwardly into the recess of the guide bar 51. An adjustable support 85 is mounted in the pivoted member 82 and secured therein by a screw 86. The lower end of said adjustable support 85 is adapted to rest upon a suitable support beneath said gate.

In Figs. 12 and 13 I have illustrated a modified form of pale. In this form the pales 33 are made double at 87 and 88 to surr0u11d the upper and lower guide bars 43 and 44 respectively, but the intermediate portion thereof is preferably constructed of a separate piece of material, preferably pipe 89, which intermediate portion is secured between the ends of said sections 87 and 88 preferably by rivets 90. Rollers 45, 45 are mounted between the sides of the members 87 and 88 to engage the upper edges of the upper and lower guide bars 43 and 44 for the purpose of supporting and guiding said pales during their lateral movements. The successive pales in the series are preferably connected together by pairs of links 91 and 92 secured to one of the sides of the double portions 87 and 88 respectively, thus to limit the lateral movement thereof.

In the form shown in Figs. 12 and 13, the double portions 87 and 88 are secured to the outer sides of the pipe 89, but in Fig. 14 I haveillustrated still another method of securing the pipe to the end portions of the pale. In this form the double portion 87 thereof is provided with a depending stem 93 which is adapted to fit into the end of the pipe 89 and to be secured therein by a rivet 94.

In Figs. 15 to 21 inclusive I have illustrated still another type of pale. The upper and lower ends 95 and 96 of the pales in this form are constructed to surround their respective guide bars 97 and 98, said guide bars being formed in substantially the same manner as are those illustrated in the preceding figures and mounted in the same way upon the pivot pale 99, which is also of similar construction to that hereinbefore described.

Rollers 100 are pivotally mounted in each of the sections 95 and 96 of said pales to support said ections upon said guide bars. The portions 95 and 96 constitute hangers for the intermediate portions of the pales of this type of gate. In the form shown aid pales are rectangular frames 101, preferably formed of angle bars 102, 102 constituting the sides and 103, 103 extending across the ends thereof. These frames are preferably vertically disposed and have secured to their upper and lower ends tuds 104, 104 whose axes preferably coincide with the median axial lines of said frames.

The studs 104 are pivotally mounted in the upper and lower ends 95 and 96 of the pales, which ends constitute hangers for the frames 101. The adjacent frames of said series are connected together by links 105, 105 which are constructed and arranged to permit successive frames to rock about the axes of their studs 104 in opposite directions so that said frames may be moved to lie face to face in a folded condition, as shown in Fig. 20.

The first frame of the series of frames is connected by links 106 to the pivot pale 99, each of said links 106 extending from a bracket 10? secured to said pivot pale to a screw 108 arranged substantially midway of the edge of said frame adjacent said pivot pale and the median axial line of said frame. The frames 101 are arranged to hold suitable filling material such as screening 109 or any other suitable material upon which suitable advertising matter may be exhibited.

When the gate is unfolded as shown in Figs. 15 and 18 the successive frames 101 are oppositely inclined to a vertical plane containing the axes of the studs 104 of all of the series of pales in said gate, said plane being represented in Fig. 18 by the line A-A. Thus when it is desired to fold said gate a slight pressure upon the outer edge of the outermost pale causes said frames to be swung about their vertical axes in the proper directions to fold said gate, as shown in Fig. 20.

After the pales of any or all of the types of gates hereinbefore described have been folded and it is desired to fold the guide bars therefor, the sections 51 are first disconnected by bcing swung upwardly about the pivots 66 permitting the latch 56 to be withdrawn from the ledge 59. The sections 50 and 51 of tie upper guide bars are then rotated about the axis of the stud 62 through an angle of substantially 180 until the rounded corners 67 of the sections 50 are underneath. This permits said sections 50 to be swung downwardly about the axis 66 until the ribs 46 of said guide bars contact with the outermost pale 53 of the gate. The third sections 51 of said guide bars are then moved upwardly about their pivots 55 until said section lies parallel with the section 50. The lower guide bar is then swungupwardly about the axis 52 until the rib 46 thereof engages the outermost pale 58, after WlllCll the outer or third section 51 may be swung downwardly until it lies parallel with said section 50, as shown in Fig. 11, after which the locking bar 76 may be moved into place to hold said guide bars in their folded rela tion.

' laving thus described my invention what I claim by Letters ?atent to secure is:

1. A folding gate having, in combination, a pivot pale, a plurality of movable pales connected together and to said pivot pale, and a guide bar for said movable pales, said guide bar having a longitudinally arranged pivot adapted to permit a portion of said bar to be rotated, said guide bar also-having atransversely disposed pivot adapted to permit said rotatable portion to be moved at an angle to the stationary portion of said bar.

2. A folding gate having, in combination, a pivot pale, a plurality of movable pales connected together and to said pivot pale, a. guide bar for said movable pales, said guide bar having a relatively stationary, member mounted upon said pivot pale, and a movable member arranged upon said relatively stationary member to rotate about an axis extending longitudinally of said stationary member, said movable member also being arranged to rock about an axis extending transversely of said stationary member.

3. A folding gate having, in combination, a pivot pale, a plurality of movable pales connected together and to said pivot pale, a guide bar for said movable pales, said guide bar embodying in its construction a relatively stationary member secured to said pivot pale, a movable member arranged upon said stationary member to rotate about an axis extending longitudinally of said stationary member, said movable member also being arranged to rock about an axis arranged transversely of said longitudinal axis, and a third member pivotally secured to said movable member to swing about an axis substantially parallel with said transversely arranged axis.

A folding gate having, in combination, a pivot pale, a plurality of movable pales connected together and to said pivot pale, a guide bar for said movable pales, said guide bar embodying in its construction a relatively stationary member secured to said pi vot pale, a stud arranged at the outer end OI said stationary member to rotate about an axis extending longitudinally of said stationary member, and a movable member pivoted upon said stud to rock about an axis arranged transversely of said longitudinal axis.

5. In combination, a pair of gate sections, each of said sections having a guide bar adapted to aline with the guide bar of the other section, said guide bar embodying in its construction a relatively stationary member and a movable member pivotally mounted upon said stationary member to rock about an axis disposed transversely of said guide bar, the outer ends of the movable members of said guide bars adapted to sub stantially abut when'in alinement with each other, and a latch pivotally secured adjacent the end of one of said guide bars and adapted to interlock with the adjacent end of the other of said guide bars during the pivotal movements of said guide bars to maintain said guide bars in alinement with each other.

6. Afolding gate having, in combination, a pivot pale, a plurality of movable pales connected together, a guide bar securedto said pivot pale, said guide bar embodying in its construction stationary member provided with a recess at the outer end thereof, a stud having a cylindrical shank portion adapted to project into said recess and to rotate therein, said stud having an annular groove in said cylindrical portion, a pin arranged transversely of said guide bar adapted to project through a portion of said groove to retain said cylindrical shank within said recess, and a relatively movable member pivoted upon said stud to swing about an axis disposed transversely of said stationary member.

7. A folding gate having, in combination, a pivot pale of Ushaped cross section, a plurality of pales arranged substantially parallel with said pivot pale and movable laterally with respect thereto, a pair of guide bars for said plurality of pales, said guide bars being of U-shaped cross section, and an angle bracket secured within each of said guide bars and within said pivot pale adapted to maintain said guide bars immovable with respect to said pivot pale.

8. A folding gate having, in combination, a pair of horizontally disposed parallel guide bars, a plurality of pales mounted upon said guide bars to move longitudinally thereof and laterally relatively to each other, each of said pales embodying in its construction a pair of coextensive parallelly disposed members formed from a single strip with said members arranged on opposite sides of said guide bars, rollers interposed between the upper and lower ends of the members constituting said pales and adapted to engage the upper and lower guide bars therefor, a pair of crossed links pivotally connected together at their crossing points interposed between each pair of adjacent pales, studs extending from side to side of the members constituting said pales adjacent the extremities of said links, and U -shaped straps secured to the extremities of said links and encircling said studs and adapted to permit said links to move longitudinally during the folding and unfolding of said gate.

9. In combination, a pair of parallel abut ting pales, a U-shaped bolt adapted to embrace said abutting pales, means for positioning said bolt on said abutting pales, a swivel eye attached to each of the legs of said U-shaped bolt, said eyes adapted to receive the shackle of a padlock and to secure said bolt on said abutting pales.

10. A folding gate having, in combination, a pivot pale, a plurality of movable pales arranged parallel with said pivot pale and movable toward and away from said pivot pale during the folding and unfolding of said gate, and means to secure said pales in their folded relation, said means consisting of a bar pivotally attached to said pivot pale, means on said bar adjacent 20 to be moved to retain said bar in its locking 25 position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

AXEL FRITZ.

Witnesses:

SYDNEY E. TAM, CHARLES S. GooDINc.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

